randall



. (No Model.) a a Sheets-Sheet 1.

G. A. RANDALL.

ELECTRICAL TIME S'fAMP. v

No. 380,594. Patented Apr. 3, 1888.

' r: I886 MAY l5 A40 45 E3 (No Model.) I V 3 Sheets-Sheet 2. 'G. A.RANDALL.

ELECTRICAL TIME STAMP.

N0.'380,594,. Patented Apr. 3, 1888.

Inwzgioz %,ggf 0 0 O 0 Q 0 hrzwulifizieahzl.

R. PETERS. FhalwLilhogmpher. Washinglnn. D,C.'.

(No Mom. 3 Sheets-Sheet s.

G. A. RANDALL. ELECTRICAL TIME STAMP.

No. 380,594. Patented A r; 3-, 1888..

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES A. RANDALL, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

ELECTRICAL TlME-STAM P.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 380,594, dated April 3,1888.

(No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GHARLEs A. RANDALL, a citizen of the'Unite'd States,residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,have invented new and useful Improvements in Electro-Mechanical Time-Printing Stamps, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to what are technically known as timeprintingstamps.

In instruments of this class using typewheels it has been customaryheretofore to drive one or more of the time-wheels by a clock-motor, thetime-wheels being geared directly to the minute or hour shaft of theclock, and also to drive the time-wheels indirectly by a clock-motor,the power of the clock-motor being used to wind up or put'tension upon aspring, which, being released at regular intervals by proper cams,ratchets, and detents, serves to turn the time-wheels; and, furthermore,it has been proposed to use two or more clock movements or motors gearedor connected together, one acting to regulate or control the action ofthe other, one movement being used as a time-keeper and the other forthe purpose of driving or rotating the time-wheels.

Electromagnetic devices have also been employed for driving theprinting-wheels of a time-stamp, and in such instance a ratchetwheelcooperates with a lever carrying a pawl or dog which engages with theratchet-wheel, the pawl-carrying lever being actuated by anelectro-magnet and its armature, the printing in such type of stampbeing effected by an electro-magnet.

All the devices above referred to are expensive, complicated, and, atleast when using clock-motors, delicate, limited in power, andunreliable, and limited in the number of time, dating, and characterwheels, and in many cases unreliable as to time, especially when thetime-keeper is not detached from the stamp proper, the act of stampingor taking an impression causing a jarring of the clock, derangement ofthe parts, loss of time, and not infrequently the stopping entirely ofthetimekeeper.

i It is the objectof my invention to overcome the many serious defectsin stamps of the class mentioned and to produce an instrument that shallbe detached from the time-keeper, that shall not be limited in power,and that shall be compact, simple, reliable, and otherwise adapted tothe demands of business for which it is intended; and to this end myinvention consists in the construction and combination of deviceshereinafter claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a time-stamp with its topplate and inking devices removed. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of thestamp with its vertical wall removed and other parts broken away toexpose operative parts. Fig. 3 is a top view showing the main andauxiliary impression levers and pads. Fig. 4. is a side view of theminute-printing wheel and its driving spur-wheel. Fig. 5 isa detail viewof the printing-wheel bearing words or symbols, the latter being on theperiphery of the wheel. Fig. 6 is a detail view of the electro-magnetand revolving armature of the electromotor. Fig. 7 is a diagram of anelectric circuit including a battery and stamps controlled by asingle-circuit wheel of a clock-movement, Fig. 8, a diagram ofimpression from the printing-wheels. Figs. 9, 10, and 11 are detailviews.

The reference-numeral 1 designates a box or case consisting of side andend walls and top and bottom plates. A shaft, 2, passes transverselythrough this box or case and is secured in the side walls thereof. Thisshaft bears the various wheels concerned in the operation of printing,and it also bears other wheels for driving these printing-wheels. Thedifferent wheels are loosely fitted on the shaft 2, so that they canturn thereon. The wheel 3 has its periphery divided into sixty parts andit bears numerals from 1 to 60 for printing the minutes. Secured to thiswheel and moving with it is a spur-disk, 4, having also sixty teeth andmeshing into a corresponding geargear wheel, 5, which is secured to ashaft, 6, journaled in the side walls of the case or box and capable ofturning in its bearings. A wheel, 7, serves to print the hours, and itis for such purpose divided into twenty-four parts or teeth, havingthereon, preferably, the meridian-marks A. M. and P. M. and the numeralsfrom 1 to 12 repeated. If desired, the letter A. may be used for A. M.and the letter P. for P. M., the type-wheel then reading A. 12, A. 1, A.2, &c., and P. 12, P. 1, P. 2, 850.

Secured to the type-wheel 7 and revolving with it is a gear-wheel, 8,having twenty'four teeth. This wheel meshes into a spur-wheel, 9, alsohaving twenty-four teeth and mounted loosely upon the shaft 6. Thisshaft also bears a fixed projecting pin, 10, which serves to act uponthe teeth of the gear-wheel 8 for turning the same. A wheel, 11, looselymounted on the shaft 2, is termed the day-wheel, and is preferablydivided into thirty-two parts. It bears the numerals from 1 to, 31,representing the thirty-one days of the months, and carries also someword, as Change, or the figure of an arrow or aspace. Secured to thiswheel 11 is the gear-wheel 12, having thirty-two teeth, into which thepin 13, fixed to the side of wheel 9, plays.

A wheel, 14, also loosely mounted on the shaft 2, is designated themonth-wheel, and is divided into twelve parts and carries the names ofthe months or abbreviations thereof. This wheel may also be providedwith suitable gearing and rotated one step per month; but preferably,for the sake of simplicity, it is operated manually.

A wheel, 15, on the shaft 2 is designated the year-wheel, and it ispreferably divided into twelve parts, in the same way as themonth-wheel. These two wheelsviz., the month and year wheelsare lockedtogether and held in place by means of a suitable pin, 16, which passesthrough the side wall of the box 1 and enters suitable holes made in thewheels 14 and 15, as is seen in Fig. 1. These holes are arranged in acircle, and they are made to register or correspond, as will be shown,and there are as many holes in the wheel as there are divisions orprinting spaces thereon.

The day-wheel 11 is held in place or is prevented from turning, exceptat the proper time, by means of a spring-catch, 18, which bears in andupon the spur-wheel 12, fixed upon said day-wheel. The hour-wheel 7 alsomay be held in a similar manner. The wheels 3, 4, and 5, on thecontrary, are held by the motor device on the shaft 20 through themedium of the electro-magnet 21 and armature 24, the spring-catch 22,andthe starwheel 23. Referring to the motor device, it may be stated thatit comprises an armature,24,which is secured to the shaft 20 andrevolves with it. This armature may be made of a single piece ofcast-iron having six projecting teeth, as shown, or it may be made of adisk of wood carrying six or any other desired number of iron pieces, orit may be made in any other convenient manner, so long as it isoperative by the action of the electro-magnet 21.

The star-wheel 23, above referred to, is secured to the shaft 20, and todefine its shape and function more precisely it may be stated that ithas V-shaped teeth, upon which bears the spring-catch 22, which servesboth to hold the shaft and armature in place and to partly rotate it toa determined position. A pinion, 25, also secured to the shaft 20,meshes with the main or large gear-wheel 5 on the shaft 6. As shown, thepinion must have six teeth or leaves to correspond to the sixproject-ions of the armature; and since it meshes into the gear-wheel 5,having sixty teeth, it is obvious that the pinion and armature and shaftupon which they are mounted will revolveten times to one of the wheel 5,or ten times an hour.

Upon the shaft 2,and preferably outsideofthe frame or box, I mountloosely one or more extra wheels,which are held in place by any suitablelocking device-such as a pin, 27-passing through holes in the sides ofthe extra wheels and entering the casing 1. The extra wheels (designatedby the numerals 27 and 27) are divided into a certain number of pointsand carry thereon words, signs, and numerals.

The numeral-wheel 27 I preferably divide into thirty parts, carrying theten digits and the numbers 5,10,15,20, 25, 30,35,-l0,45,50,55, 60, 65,70, 75,80, 85, 90, 95, 100.

The character, sign, or word wheel or wheels 27 may carry anyconventional signs, words, or characters for facilitating business, suchas Operator, Rush, Collect, Paid, Received, Number of lVords, &c. Theword-wheel I preferably have print at right angles with the rotatingtime type-wheels an impression reading something as shown in Fig. 8.These type-wheels may be constructed,in any of the well'known ways, ofmetal or wood and divided into teeth or parts and engraved with theletters, figures, or characters, or they may be cast in metal or rubber;but, preferably, they are made of light metal covered on thecircumference with a ring, band, or tire of soft rubber having theletters, numerals, &c., east thereon. In Fig. 11 I have shown such arubber ring or tire with varied type, a designating the ring, and b thetype.

Upon the inside of the box, case, or frame is secured the aforesaidelectro-magnet 21, (or magnets,) having a rotary armature, 24. Themagnet 21 is included in an electric circuit with a battery and with thecircuit-wheel 3O (shown in Fig. 7) or a similar one attached to oractuated by a time-keeper or clock-movement. The circuit-wheel may bemade in any of the well-known ways and secured to a shaft of theclock-movement or time-keeper and r0 tated thereby. The circuit-breakermust be provided with a proper number of contact points to make theelectromotor move the minute-wheel 3 one step each minute, and step bystep, the circuit-wheel having, if secured to the hour-shaft of theclock-movement, sixty makes and breaks, as shown in Fig. 10, so that theelectromagnet is charged and discharged sixty times per hour.

As shown, the contact should be so made as to charge the electro-magnetsufficiently long to throw the armature, shaft, pinion, and V- shapedtoothed wheel far enough to move the V-shaped spring-catch 22 past andover one tooth, when, the circuit being broken, the magnet discharged,and the armature released, the springcatch acts in and upon the V-shapedIOC toothed wheel, moving it to the correct position and holding ituntil the electro-magnet is again energized.

The impressions from the type-wheels may be taken by a suitablysupported impressionpad, either of the lever or plunger form. I havepreferably used a lever, 35, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, suitablyfulcrumed and held normally in place by a spring and stop.

I also use, when desired, an auxiliary impression-lever, 36, so arrangedthat it may be used independently of or in conjunction with the mainimpression-lever. For this purpose I provide two levers, which aresuitably fulcrumed, the auxiliary lever, as shown in Fig. 3, being inthe path of the downward movementof the main lever to permit it to becaught by the projecting pin 37 and carried with it.

This auxiliary lever is provided with a separate knot, so that it may beused independently, if desired.

The parts being made and arranged substan tially as described, theoperation is as follows: Commencing with a given time, the year, month,day, and extra Wheels being set correctly, and the hour and minutewheels being set t c-correspond with a time-keeper, when thecircuit-wheel 30 at the time-keeper revolves, as soon as the circuit isclosed, by contact of the spring-contact 38 with a metal tooth of thecircuit-wheel 30, a current of electricity is sent from the battery overthe electro-magnet 21 of the electromotor, and the armature is actuatedand the V-shaped toothed wheel moves one tooth or thereabout, the shaft20, shaft 6, pin

10, wheel 5, wheel 4, and minute-wheel 3 moving a corresponding distanceto the proper positions, where they are held until the electromotor isagain operated, and so on every minute. When the shaft 6 has madefifty-nine sixtieths of a revolution, the pin 10 engages in the wheel8,throwing the hour-Wheel 7 one step at the complete revolution of theshaft 6, and also moving the wheel 9 by the action of the spur-wheel 8upon said wheel 9, and at twenty-four revolutions of the shaft 6 thehourwhcel 7 and gear-wheel 8 and gear-wheel 9 will have made onecomplete revolution, and the pin 13 upon the wheel 9, acting in and uponthe gear-wheel 12, will move it and the wheel 11 one step or one toothat every revolution of the wheel 9, the gear-Wheel 8, and the hour-wheel7. It will be understood that in a similar manner the type-wheel 14 maybe antomatically set monthly and the type-wheel15 once a year; but forsimplicity I prefer to set these manually. An impression may betaken atany time from the type-Wheels by a quick percussive-like blow of theimpression-levers 35 36.

If extraimpressions from the extra typewheels are desired upon thesamepaper or document upon which a time-impression is made, or upon otherpapers or documents, it may be done by means of the auxiliary lever 36after setting the extra type-wheels for the required impressions.

In Fig. 7 I have shown the circuit-wheel of the time-keeper connected incircuit with adistance from the time-keeper, thereby preventing anyderangement of or interference with the time-keeper, insuring correcttimekeeping, without which timestamps are of little or no value.

It will also be seen that with this invention ample power can beprovided for actuating the parts and settingvthe type-Wheelsautomatically and reliably; also,that the parts are re duced to aminimum,considering the needs of business, and also that with thisinvention any number of stamps may be automatically and simultaneouslyactuated and controlled by a time-keeper or clock-movement common toall. While I have shown a single helix electromotor, I do not restrictmyself thereto, as the electromotor may be made in many forms and withor without an escapement without departing from the spirit of myinvention.

While I have shown but one circuit-wheel, 30, and one circuit in Fig. 7,it will be understood that the time-keeper or clock-movement may be madeto carry a number of circuitwheels, or have a number of contact-springsbearing upon the circuit-wheel 30, and a corresponding number ofcircuits with a suitable battery for each. Any of the well-known devicesmay be employed for inking the typewheels. [twill be understood that thestamp,

when constructed as shown, is more especially ing an electro-magnet, arotary armature, substantially as shown, and means, substantially asdescribed, for partly rotating the armature to a determined position,intermediate gearing for driving thev type-Wheels, and a timekeeper orclock mechanism for controlling the action of the electric motor,substantially as herein set forth.

2. In a hand time-stamp, the combination,

with the type-wheels, the impression-pad, the electromotor for rotatingthe type wheels, and the clock movement or time-keeper for controllingthe electromotor, of auxiliary type-wheel or typewheels and an auxiliaryimpressionpad, substantially as set forth.

3. In a time-stamp, the combination of the electromotor deviceconsisting, essentially, of a revolving shaft, an armature having radialprojections mounted on said shaft, means, substantially as described,for partly rotating the armature to a determined position, and anelectro magnet, with means, substantially as described, forcommunicating motion from the armature shaft to a series of type-wheels,a circnit-wheel, and a clock-movement controlling the circuit-Wheel,substantially as set forth.

4. In a timestamp, the combination of the motor acting upon the wheel 5,and typewheels with spur-wheels cooperating with the wheel 9 and pins 10and 13, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

CHARLES A. RANDALL.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR E. SMITH, GEORGE Q. OoLLINs.

